Mamma Mia! (DVD)

Having backdropped many a soundtrack for other people, it seems appropriate that Abba now find themselves soundtracking their own film of sorts. Mamma Mia has now been playing at theatre houses near you for the best part of the decade, and therefore finally finds its way onto the big screen. Set upon an idyllic remote Greek Island, 20 year old Sophie is about to be married. The one thing marring the day is the fact that her father wont be present. When she steals her mother's diary, in order to contact her father, she isn't banking on the revelation that he could be any one of three men. In the time it takes her to belt out "Honey Honey", she ...  Read the complete review

I had promised myself that over the Christmas period, I would watch all of the DVDs that I haven't got around to watching throughout the year, and one of these was Mamma Mia. I had wanted to see it at the cinema but never got around to it, so I got it for myself for a treat with an Amazon voucher when it first came out. I never managed to see it, so was determined to do so at Christmas! Well, I've been so tired every evening that I've been in bed too early to watch a film, but tonight I put it on at 8pm as I really wanted to see the bloomin' thing at last! And was it worth the wait? Mamma Mia is based on the musical of the same name, but translates the story ...  Read the complete review

Last night, I went to the cinema to see Mamma Mia with my mother-in-law (while my husband, son and youngest daughter saw Hancock). I saw the stage version of Mamma Mia in January this year and thought it was brilliant. I'm also a big Abba fan and have been for about thirty years, so I'm in the ideal demographic for this movie. The cinema was almost full and those seeing Mamma Mia were admittedly mainly women, but from the elderly down to young kids. There was a bit of a party atmosphere too, lots of giggles and it almost felt like being on a hen night - which was fun. But would the film live up to its hype or be a pale shadow of its stage ...  Read the complete review

There are two things which are required to make a musical great. The first, perhaps obviously, is that the songs should be good. The second, and this is less obvious, is that the plot should be memorable in it's own right. In other words, you should get the story down first before you start writing the songs. Write the film without any songs in it, stand back, and decide if you think it could get made. Then write the songs and put them in-between to make a delicious cinema cake filled with goodness that everyone will love. It's a simple thing to check out, and films like West Side Story, The Sound Of Music, Fame, they all makes sure that their songs come complete with a ...  Read the complete review

Sophie Sheridan is blissfully happy; she has found the man of her dreams, lives in a quaint Greek village, has her two best friends by her side and is about to get married in a huge ceremony. There's just one catch; she wants her father to give her away... and her father could be one of three men. So as her mother, Donna, is busy maintaining their dilapidated Greek hotel with her two best friends her daughter invites the three potential fathers..... Without telling her mother. As identities are discovered and relationships built... the energy of ABBA is ignited in them all, making for a very vocal wedding. Mamma Mia is a big, dumb, funny, exciting Hollywood ...  Read the complete review